At present, setting up a distribution network in a factory, e.g. a compressed air network, is essentially a question of plumbing, i.e. of manually installing the ducts that make up the network (cutting pipes to length, shaping lengths on site as a function of local geometrical configurations, and brazing, soldering, or gluing coupling elements or branching elements to the lengths of pipe). Any modification or change to an installation of that type requires it to be completely revised in order to enable such and such an additional branch point to be added or such another branch point to be removed. Even for minor modifications of the installation, e.g. increasing the diameter of a branch thereof to meet increased energy demand on said line, it is necessary to embark on major works that take the installation out of operation for a long time.
The present invention seeks to remedy the drawbacks of present installations and of the techniques for installing them, mainly by proposing connection means that enable a new installation to be installed extremely quickly with it being easy to modify the configuration, thereof, or the nature or location of the functional elements that make it up.
The very nature of the connection means specific to the invention makes it possible to split up the duct(s) constituting the installation or the network into modular lengths or elements that are easy to replace or modify, said lengths being provided in a series of predetermined sizes and including no special end means for connection to the installation. The connection means are concentrated in a special element that is interposed between the end of a length of duct and a functional member, which functional member may be constituted merely by a union or a plug.